FRUIT HEIGHTS — “I can’t think of any other honor I’d rather get,” said Sandra Servoss Berger, when told she was chosen to represent Fruit Heights as Mother of the Year.

A mother of eight and grandmother to 20 (the 20th is expected next month), Berger said it’s true that mothers will often look back and say “woulda, coulda, shoulda.”

“You just have to know you did the best you could at the time,” she said.

“The thing that really helped me was that we were true to our faith,” she said. “We have wonderful children, all of them with high morals.”

In her nominating letter, Berger’s daughter, Jennifer Pimentel, recognized her mother for being a PTA president at various schools, a Den Leader and an LDS Primary president, in addition to “cheering at every game, swim meet, music recital,” and cooking homemade dinners every night.

“I believe that parents need to be involved in civic things, especially school things,” said Berger.

“I think it shows (our children) that we have to give back,” she said. “We have to pay attention to what the kids are doing and try to make it better and if things come along we don’t like we have to go to work to make a difference.”

At times, that meant visiting schools near their home in Southern California to teach about the importance of brushing and flossing teeth. At other times, that meant speaking out in city council meetings in support of a new city park.

She and her husband, Bill, met at Utah State University, married and moved to Chicago where he completed dental school before setting up his practice in Anaheim and Mission Viejo, Calif.